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Convicted Felons In Escambia County Can Register To Vote Starting Tuesday
January 5, 2019
Convicted felons in Escambia County can register to vote beginning Tuesday.
The Escambia County Supervisor of Elections will begin processing applications from previously ineligible voters beginning Tuesday, the effective date of the Voting Restoration Amendment approved by voters in the 2018 general election.
According to the ballot summary, the amendment to Florida’s Constitution “restores the voting rights of Floridians with felony convictions after they complete all terms of their sentence including parole or probation. The amendment would not apply to those convicted of murder or sexual offenses, who would continue to be permanently barred from voting unless the Governor and Cabinet vote to restore their voting rights on a case by case basis.”
Voters who have previously lost their voting rights due to a felony conviction but are now eligible must submit a new voter registration application. Individuals who are unsure of their status should contact the Florida Office of Executive Clemency, the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where they were sentenced, the Florida Department of Corrections where they were supervised or incarcerated, or the U.S. Probation Office if in the federal court system.
Voters may register to vote online at EscambiaVotes.com, in person at the Supervisor of Elections office at 213 Palafox Place, 2nd Floor, in downtown Pensacola, at any Florida Driver License office, and several other governmental offices and public assistance centers. Registration applications are also available for pick up at many locations countywide and can be returned to the Supervisor of Elections office by mail or in person.
Comments
19 Responses to “Convicted Felons In Escambia County Can Register To Vote Starting Tuesday”
Let em vote.
As if it matters
Other questions have legitimately been raised regarding when the debt is considered paid. Out on probation isn’t paid. What about fines and restitution? If they haven’t been paid, the sentence isn’t complete. How will the supervisors of elections know? If they swear falsely that all is square, they have committed yet ANOTHER felony.
Just something to think about.
If you paid your debt to society then I don’t see why they shouldn’t have the right to vote. This is great!
@Jim, your absolutely right in what you wrote. If all these folks truly believe that convicted felons have paid their debt to society, then why pick and choose what rights are restored, if the debt is paid in full as they claim all rights should be restored to include the right to own a firearm. And that maybe what’s coming next, I believe a slippery slope may have been constructed here, and in the right courts with a liberal judge it’s very well possible.
@Jerry, et. al ~ Serving time isn’t the only punishment for a crime. The loss of rights, in addition to the incarceration time, are also supposed to act as deterrents for those considering committing a felonious act.
From my experience in dealing with criminals over the years, most of them didn’t vote before they went to prison. The odds are that a large percentage probably won’t vote after prison either.
Why are some felons excluded ? If they have done time and paid for the crime why exclude them from voting ? Either you are a criminal or you aren’t. If they think you are still a criminal then why let them out of jail? If you have served your time, then why keep restricting a persons legal rights instead of letting them be a part of society? Its really nonsense
Restoration of civil rights previously was arbitrary and political. Consider the ones opposed because they are afraid some other political party will benefit. Had politicians come up with a plan to judiciously restore rights, the problem would have been solved. They didn’t. They worked to keep their party in power.
The people voted to be fairer than politicians, setting political party aside. Government should serve the people, not the party.
This is a good thing even if it is not perfect and will let some people vote whom we dislike. They don’t pay their debt to society just by staying in prison but some debts can never be paid. Some things can never be made right.
David for the people
I think many of you will be very surprised to see how felons vote. The ones that will vote are already living right. I was 15 charged as an adult. I am as conservative as one can possibly be. Yet now I don’t have to pretend my wife’s vote counts for both of us. I applied to have all civil rights restored in 2004. I am still waiting for a response. However, had I been able to vote for this amendment, I’d have voted against it. Just in case…….
First of all I am NOT a felon and I think this is great! Those of you that are being so judgmental shame on you, I guess u never made a mistake in your life — or got caught maybe. Think about all the people that messed up when they were young and maybe made one bad decision so they should be punished for life? What about people who got caught with a joint or wrote a bad check or driving offenses, etc. so they should be forever punished because of it? Yes I’m sure there are lots of criminals who keep being criminals and don’t learn a lesson but they shouldn’t be able to ruin it for the ones who have changed. Taking someone’s right away to vote is wrong once they have paid their debt to society and this should have been changed decades ago. So again before judging someone else how about get off your high horse and take a look at your own life and the lives of relatives and friends because most likely you know someone that has made a mistake and that doesn’t mean they are a bad person and should pay for it for the rest of their lives!
Blows me away. Yeah, I bet Democrats are tickled. Charged, convicted, but yet still got the same rights the rest of us do!
*I meant reincarcerated
Most wont vote because they’ll end up reincarnated.
They had all those feel good commercials promoting this amendment including the nice middle class man and his family saying he served his time and would like his voting privileges restored. Tugging at your heart strings. I wonder how many convicted felons fall into that category. . .
After serving their time it should be all rights restored or no rights restored. This pick and choose what they can do is a farce.
We can all sleep better tonight. Voting is a privilege. Those additional voting fingers will be interesting!
I bet the Democrats are happy about this.
Terrible decision.
awesome, free room, food, entertainment, education and now can vote… No reason to be afraid of going to jail, you have all your rights intact.